Yelle Family Applies for Lodging License

According to a story in today's Brockton Enterprise, the Yelle family -- whose housing operations in town were scaled back after dozens of recorded offenses and numerous, expensive court battles -- is applying for a lodging-house permit. A hearing will be held next Tuesday, January 2, in the Memorial Building.

An overflow crowd gathered in the same space in October 2010 to testify about Yelle operations at three sites in town. Police, fire, building, and health incidents and violations were cited, and numerous abutters testified about safety, noise, and nuisance concerns. After the decisive hearing, it took many months of continued litigation to secure minimal compliance with occupancy requirements, as the Yelle family used every available tactic to prolong the process.

As the Enterprise article notes, the process did result in some improvements to the properties, bringing them closer to basic compliance with occupancy requirements. The current effort is to secure a permit to house TWENTY residents in the School Street location. If approved, this will give the Yelle family a much broader toehold in the downtown area; past performance should be an utmost consideration.

(See previous blog posts for more background.)

Hearing Next Wednesday

Eviction hearings for residents of Kenneth Yelle's three derelict properties will be held on Wednesday, November 3 in Brockton. The Enterprise included an article about this today, October 28, but it has not yet appeared online.

Denied. Denied. Denied.

Thanks to all of the neighbors and town officials who turned out to speak against the lodging license for Mr. Yelle's three properties that had become a collective blight on the center of town as well as dangers to the 40 or so residents. Rents totaling close to $20,000 per month were not being reinvested in the safety of those properties, and the crowing resulted in conditions that were both dangerous and frustrating for neighbors.

Because Mr. Yelle had operated the houses for more than two years since being ordered to apply for licenses, the license decision would have condoned serious past violations.

Absentee landlords renting to more than three unrelated tenants are required to obtain lodging licenses. In turn, these licenses require public hearings, on-site managers, and certain health and safety conditions. Mr. Yelle has been far from alone in thwarting these requirements. With any luck, this case marks the beginning of better times for Bridgewater's neighborhoods.

Yelle hearing

On Tuesday, September 28, neighbors will have an opportunity to comment on Mr. Yelle's application for lodging licenses for three properties in town, including this one at 57 Spring Hill, which is currently unlicensed, over-crowded (13 students in a single-family home), in disrepair, and surrounded by discarded furniture.

The hearing will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Academy Building.

Welcome Crack-Down on Poorly Managed Properties

57 Spring Hill Ave.

Several owners of properties in Bridgewater operate them to maximize profit, with little regard for the neighborhoods in which they make their money or the tenants who pay them. Among the worst is the operator of three houses that are intended to provide court-ordered services for tenants with drug and/or alcohol dependency. Instead of providing the services, the owner has simply loaded the houses, collected the money, and provided almost none of the mandated supervision. The health and safety of both tenants and neighbors has been put at risk. After five years of attempting to gain compliance through local ordinances, the Town of Bridgewater is taking Kenneth Yelle to housing court.

UPDATE: According to the mother of one of the new tenants, THIRTEEN students are moving in to the 57 Spring Hill property; I imagine a similar overload is planned on Yelle's other properties.

Other landlords in town do not seem to be doing much better, party houses are beginning to be established on Burrill Avenue, including the sites of the most recent Springfest disturbances.